Top 10 Songs By Musicians Who KNEW They Were Dying

These artists had a rare chance to say goodbye through their music, and they didn't disappoint. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the songs that were created in the face of an artist’s impending death. Our countdown of songs by musicians who knew they were dying includes “Last Donut of the Night”, “Stuck Inside a Cloud”, “Lazarus”, and more! Which of these songs’ deeper meanings resonated with you the most? Let us know in the comments below!
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#Songs
#Music
#Artist
#Musicians
#Death
#Dying

[@WatchMojo]

Which of these songs’ deeper meanings resonated with you the most? Let us know in the comments below! For more content like this, click here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/lX7QmJydabCLr6c

[@linusholm3806]

My wish list: Top 10 disney junior shows Top 10 unimportant pokemon episodes (no catching new pokemon, no evolving, no gym/pokemon leage battle, no meating new rivle, etc) Top 10 underrated animated disney series Best disney movie per decade Top 10 disney reprise songs (deleted included) Top 10 disney villains that deserved a villain song Top 10 disney couples with a tough start (Both movies and tv-series) Top 10 what have I done moment excluding disney and pixar Top 10 disney movie ideas (by you) 👍😉

[@bryanskreden3525]

Wonder how many of these were ever performed live😢

[@edalder2000]

I work at Tower Records from 2001-2006. I knew the original Trent Reznor version of "Hurt." It's great. One day in 2002, my Tower got a visit from a label rep. She ushered us into our art room and showed us a promo VHS. It was the video for Johnny Cash's "Hurt" and we were among the first to see that video. I had a tear down my face and others were crying. Just raw, powerful and beautiful. An elegy of facing the end. June Carter Cash died 4 months after this video was filmed and Johnny died 3 months after her. Trent Reznor said that when he heard the Johnny Cash version of "Hurt," Reznor knew that song was no longer "his."

[@robertsissco2439]

I remember heating Trent saying that around the time it came out. The fact that for both of them it was such a personal song and they poured so much of themselves into it that both make it a beautifully tragic song like that in greatly different ways is amazing.

[@KevyNova]

Mozart should’ve been #1. He died writing his “Requiem” and knew he was dying. I think it’s the most powerfully emotional piece of music ever written.

[@KevyNova]

@@snakebitepellehue it wasn’t Salieri that completed it, it was one of Mozart’s students.

[@snakebitepellehue]

@@KevyNova Oops, my bad!

[@jdmoncada8205]

@@KevyNova Exactly! The Requiem was completed by Suessmayr. [But the Salieri reference was made famous by the play Amadeus.]

[@eifelitorn]

Not exactly a song tho

[@shainewhite2781]

RIP, Farrokh Bulsara, Freddie Mercury, 1946-1991.

[@plususer]

RIP Chester Bennington - although he wasn't dying at the time of the record "Leave Out All the Rest" gave me chills and goosebumps after he passed

[@eifelitorn]

or "One More Light"

[@shainewhite2781]

"The Show Must Go On" was a big middle finger to the grim reaper.

[@GogReviews]

It’s amazing how he managed to record that vocal in one take. Brian May told him to rest, he requested a glass of Vodka then went on to nail the song.

[@einahsirro1488]

The day after David Bowie died, I showed Lazarus to my 10th grade English class and said, "This was his last song." Man, you could hear a pin drop. I think I might have traumatized 32 kids. One said afterward, "Thanks Miss. I'll have bad dreams tonight!"

[@ashanteecowlay8730]

Why would you do that?

[@einahsirro1488]

@@ashanteecowlay8730 Because he was a cultural icon, he'd just died, that was his last statement, and I considered it significant.

[@CandiceVidito32]

R.I.P to all of the musicians that died

[@WatchMojo]

Are there any songs or albums of theirs that you always go back to?

[@CandiceVidito32]

@@WatchMojo Johnny Cash's American IV: The Man Comes Around

[@luizfe]

Don't idolize musicians

[@CandiceVidito32]

@@luizfe Why not?

[@ellieadkinson3657]

NUMBER ONE. LAZARUS. DAVID BOWIE. As it should be. The night after David Bowie died, I went out, bought Blackstar, ate Japanese food, and cried into my peach sake as I toasted to him over and over. It may have only been the mid-00’s when I fell in love with his music and films, especially Labyrinth, but he had me by the heart by then, and I deeply felt the loss. Two days later I wrote a poem about, what else but, the death of the Goblin King. I only listened to Blackstar a few times, and only on January 10, his date of departure… before mysteriously losing my copy of the CD in 2020.

[@edalder2000]

When Johnny Cash complete his track of "Hurt," his daughter Rosanne Cash had a question. "Daddy, it sounds like you're saying goodbye." Johnny responded, "I am."

[@necroarcanistxiii]

Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails has also been on record to have said that Cash had made that song his own after the video's release.

[@KittyKatt_Luna80s]

In another sad twist, his wife had died not long before him. He died 4 months after she did. 😞

[@lorrieoiler1878]

Gregg Allman's posthumously released album Southern Blood contains the song "My One True Friend" which contains the lyrics, "I hope you're haunted by the music of my soul when I'm gone." He was dying of liver cancer as he recorded this album.

[@AskAdam28]

I cannot listen to "Hurt" the same after Johnny Cash's rendition. It's painfully beautiful and beautifully painful at once. Anything ever written by Freddie Mercury is a blasted masterpiece, including "Who Wants to Live Forever?", "The Show Must Go On", and "These Are The Days of Our Lives" I'll be honest, Glen Campbell is a little before my time, but I remember his diagnosis and subsequent rapidity of Alzheimer's, and the song "I'm Not Gonna Miss You" is a brilliantly upbeat and honest song about the brutality of the disease. I will ALWAYS have a soft spot for Leonard Cohen due to personal reasons. Fell in love with his style and delivery when I was in my 20s (my father sent me a bunch of his albums). In 2009, I entered a poetry contest that was sponsored by him - and my poem "Abandon" won second place. I will always hold that poem in high regard, considering such a master of the craft has read it and deemed it suitable. In that same batch of CDs, my father sent me WZ's, "The Wind" Geez, this list hit me hard..... Well done, WM!

[@jdmoncada8205]

"Who Wants to Live Forever" was written by Brian May. Still a powerful song, though.

[@Jeremiah_Rivers76]

Nobody can do a song when they’re close to death quite like Johnny Cash with his cover of “Hurt,” my definitive version of Nine Inch Nails’ original.

[@Becvar80]

Even Reznor acknowledged it.

[@Slayde.Wilson]

Even though Nine Inch Nails originally wrote and sang "Hurt." Honestly I think both him and Johnny did a phenomenal job.

[@JaxonRoberts]

Trent won't perform it anymore. "That's Johnny's song now. "

[@cactaceous]

@@JaxonRoberts​​⁠Bullshit. NIN has kept playing Hurt at almost every gig. I saw their last tour in 2022 and it was played.

[@XACTIC_Valour]

Yes.... almost like they mentioned that I the video

[@JaxonRoberts]

@@cactaceous then Trent lied when he said that in an interview. Sorry, I took him at his word.

[@cactaceous]

@@JaxonRoberts He said it belonged to Cash now but he never said he wouldn’t play it again ever or that he was going to forget about it entirely. I saw the same interview.

[@catholicactionbibleonlyist1813]

David Bowie is not dead he just move back to Atlantis

[@thebaxeffect]

The goblin king has returned to his domain

[@edalder2000]

I remember seeing "These Are The Days of Our Lives." Freddie looked like he was going to die. I could tell it was wasting away from AIDS. I broke down crying.

[@your_local_questerian]

His band member was even worried about him. He noticed Freddie sounded like he was gonna die and he tried getting him help, but he turned it down. I don't remember what exactly happened, the band member being worried part did happen though

[@joermnyc]

Bowie's last record was called Black Star, the an older name for a Black Hole... he knew he was going into the unknown and it may as well have been like falling into a Black Hole for all any of us know.

[@zevonweinreich5072]

Seeing Warren Zevon on this list brings a smile on my heart because barely anyone knows of him. Truly a great artist that should get some more love.

[@mikewagner9395]

I remember his last appearance on Letterman 😢

[@Alsebra]

Who doesn't know "Werewolves of London"??

[@TulsaKanette]

in 2006 when my grandmother passed away and i couldn't think of anything to say to my mother. i played Keep me in your Heart.

[@isaacmartinez6904]

I give these artists credit for making their songs before they passed away.

[@waverlyking6045]

Voivod’s album Katorz was produced when their underrated guitarist Denis “Piggy” D’Amour knew he was dying from cancer.

[@Geekymom2023]

I can't hear hurt without thinking of my grandpa. He loved Johnny Cash but unfortunately died of pancreatic cancer in 1999. We were close as I was the first grandchild. When I hear hurt, I think of him, as he went through a lot in his short 58 years. 💔

[@brianarbenz1329]

Very sweet! I was very close to my grandfather also.

[@edalder2000]

I remember listening to "Blackstar" shortly after Bowie died. I broke down crying in the middle of the album and could not finish it.

[@kevinuchiha6830]

I forget the name of the Mexican singer who got a note that said if he kept playing he'd be killed, but he had a monstrous performance

[@WatchMojo]

Are you thinking of the late singer Juan Gabriel?

[@valeriemunoz1331]

Maybe Chalino Sanchez ?

[@kevinuchiha6830]

@valeriemunoz1331 yeah him. Thanks

[@kevinuchiha6830]

@@WatchMojo it was Chalino Sanchez, the fellow below got it.

[@riotbreaker3506]

​@WatchMojo Juan Gabriel was also threatened, but I don't think that was why they killed him

[@madsjensen6330]

Robin gibb Dont cry alone is a must hear too

[@erikcbaardd]

Klaus Nomi's performance of "Cold Song" is worthy of mention too.

[@roseprevost8081]

Jimmy Buffett's entire last album. He knew it would be his last. A year later, and Bubbles Up still makes me teary.

[@kathleengreer4639]

YES YES. YES Jimmy's death was a shock to most of his fans, and now to hear "Bubbles Up" even a year later is heartbreaking, even as he sings to encourage people to not be sad.

[@ripleyfry2107]

Freddie Mercury's final ever vocals on "Mother Love" always hit hard. And the final verses being sung by Sir Brian May cause freddie had died before recording them

[@melindamullen6335]

Brian was writing it for him, These are the Days was written by Rodger about his kids

[@KevinHill-h6v]

"I long for peace, before I die", so sad and awful.

[@EddieGaster]

Freddie had planned to return to the studio and finish Mother Love, but his sickness prevented him from doing so.

[@chelseacanales8763]

Johnny Cash and David Bowie and Freddie Mercury 😢😢😢😢

[@yaphilmeh]

Thank you for putting dilla on this list he deserves so much more attention

[@DBoy2029]

I could imagine that "Scatman's World" was Scatman John's farewell to the world, because another commentor on a music vid of said song said that as well.

[@kamc1959]

Redemption Song by Bob Marley should be on this and no he wasn't murdered (he was shot once) as someone said on here he died of skin cancer A lot of people say Days of our lives by Queen is the goodbye song but I prefer Show Must Go On by a mile very powerful and emotional. Brian May said he didn't think he could manage to sing it given he was so ill. Apparently Freddie said I'll do it darling, downed some vodka and smashed it!

[@frednich9603]

wow, the photo was Cash's MOTHER. June Carter wasn't dead when he recorded the song, in fact she's standing RIGHT THERE

[@stevegallo8483]

True, I remember that June died not long after Johnny.

[@frednich9603]

@@stevegallo8483 before actually by a few months

[@beccasneed7730]

Johnny Cash’s version of Hurt feels like an apology for his life to June and the people who knew him.

[@Dremag_Gaming]

It was something to find out one of the last movies that David Bowie seen was Warcraft, while Duncan Jones (his son), was working on it.

[@messenjah9106]

Fiction by Avenged Sevenfold should be on here

[@noswanson1982]

Shari Lewis - Hello, Goodbye She was the puppeteer from Lamb Chop's Play-Along. She sang this song the same day she found out that she was terminally ill.

[@beccawiley6684]

I had the great pleasure of meeting Warren Zevon back in 1994, at a small concert at Sugarloaf USA, in Maine. He was such a wonderful, delightful man. Every time I hear "Keep Me in Your Heart," I think of him and remember how great he was, and what an honor it was to spend time with him.

[@goosebumps768]

Johnny Cash and David Bowie Bring me to tears Rest in peace David Bowie and Johnny Cash

[@Theprophet3928]

Mother Love is the perfect example of this. Freddie couldn't even finish the song. Brian had to do it two years after Freddie died.

[@necroarcanistxiii]

It doesn't count as it happened 2 years prior, but Slipknot's Til We Die has become associated with Paul Gray and Joey Jordison, having been released on All Hope Is Gone in 2008, before Gray's overdose in 2010. It was originally penned as a tribute to friendship and brotherhood, but took a more somber meaning after Gray's passing. Irony that Joey Jordison passed only a few years ago, and in the live performance of the song in tribute to Gray, Jordison was hugging Grey's jumpsuit on a stand.

[@austinwilliam6282]

Was hoping to see Tom Searle (Architects) on here. Taken too young at 28 (cancer) - he wrote songs and lyrics that resonate and can only begin to convey what he must have felt. "Gone With the Wind" is just gut-wrenching hearing it knowing what we know now. He even wrote a song called "Memento Mori / Swan Song" before he passed. I know metalcore isn't main stream, but damn I think one of their songs deserved to make the cut for this video

[@michaelsmyth3935]

Worked a four county wide 120 jukebox service route 1986-1990. Got My Mind Set on You! Lotta quarters in the bucket for that.

[@roxy5588]

Fantastic list Mojo. Was not disappointed with this idea. Rest in Peace to everyone that had passed away on this list. Miss yu always.

[@COMPFUNK2]

Rest in peace to all these legends. 🙏🏾

[@CD-ni8hi]

Surprised "Fiction" by Avenged Sevenfold didn’t make it. I don’t know if the Rev necessarily knew he would die, but according to M. Shadows, he turned in the song "Fiction" just 3 days before he died. And if you listen to the lyrics, it’s easy to think that there was some sort of cloud hanging over him in the days before his passing. It’s a very powerful and emotional song

[@Tlotoxl]

I’m not a Johnny Cash fan, at the time I could barely name a song of his but every time I saw that video for Hurt I would cry, especially his shutting the Piano at the end.

[@SherylAnneTBien]

BTW, Motorhead is the one who made the iconic entrance theme song of Triple H, WWE wrestler turned creative producer.

[@PiratePrincessYuki]

As someone who has APS and Lupus I can honestly say it’s no joke. Lost a leg almost two years ago from complications because of it.

[@brianarbenz1329]

So sorry. I hope you get by and live as well as possible. ❤

[@Benjifan2000]

RIP to my favorite singer David Bowie

[@rocketrockinit]

This list pulls my heart strings

[@AskAdam28]

Saaaaaaaaaaaaaame!!!

[@vivis1995]

Listening to Brian's last verse in Mother Love, knowing why exactly he's taking over for Freddie, is a gut punch every time. I can't even begin to imagine how hard that must have been for him, especially knowing his struggles with depression 😢

[@grayarcadian]

INXS's "Elegantly Wasted" is, in a way, one of the most striking suicide notes on record.

[@charlesdauphin3324]

Not that they knew Neil's life was running out at that point, but they knew their active career as a band was coming to a close. A fitting bookend to a long and prolific career, "The Garden" by RUSH. "The measure of a life is the measure of love and respect, so hard to earn, so easily burned. In the fullness of time, a garden to nurture and protect." Also, a loss that shook an entire nation (well, Québec as a nation anyways), Karl Tremblay, singer of "Les Cowboys Fringants" passed away after a battle with cancer, but not before recording their ultimate album, with a final goodbye to their fans in "La Fin du Show".

[@jennyfab312]

After hearing Johnny Cash's version, even Trent Reznor said "I thought I wrote it for me. I wrote it for hime"

[@tylergoodman3560]

These are the days of our lives: Freddie Mercury's swan song. 😢🎉

[@eduardochicas8010]

Everything e I hear this song I really feel his pain and fighting for his life against HIV AIDS

[@tylergoodman3560]

@@eduardochicas8010 I wish he was still here. 😢🎉

[@Slayde.Wilson]

@@tylergoodman3560 I can't stop listening to that song without crying.

[@tylergoodman3560]

@Slayde.Wilson Me too, especially when he looks at us and says: "I still love you," one last time. 😢🎉

[@BlackHatCinephile]

🥈

[@intentionalretiredlife]

Glen Campbell’s song should have won the Oscar it was nominated for.

[@iHeartsNostalgiaPit]

it was a very busy year in that category

[@elDani902_]

#6 Waren Zevon. I never heard of him before yet it brought tears to my eyes. That one and David Bowie hit or hurt the hardest.

[@ChubbyChecker182]

Johnny Cash Hurt (song and video) is just jaw dropping.

[@318ironhide]

“One more light” -Chester Bennington

[@stevegallo8483]

Toby Keith's final song "Don't Let the Old Man In" could be on this list.

[@marcen12]

He wasn't dying when he recorded that song. It wasn't even his final song.

[@ArabbJrK]

The first time I heard Hurt was when WWE did a tribute to Eddie Guerrero when he passed away

[@CalamitousMadness]

The fact that Toby Keith's "Dont Let the old Man In" wasnt mentioned, even as an honorable mention, is a shame. Im not a country music fan, but that song was heart breaking

[@emiliobello2538]

Shout out to those who suggested this I knew Lazarus was number one

[@fullhousefrek]

Came here for keep me in your heart for awhile

[@thebaxeffect]

I keep forgetting that Johnny Cash's hurt is a cover .. it's just that good

[@allthingsnerd.4484]

Kurt Cobain performing “Where Did You Sleep Last Night?” to close out the Nirvana Unplugged show, now in hindsight looks like he had made his fateful decision and was just giving a last goodbye to his fans before carrying it out. It’s like watching someone sing at their own funeral.

[@whitedogblues09]

After Bowie passed away and I re-listened to Lazarus I completely broke down

[@kenterminateddq5311]

0:23 Watchmojo, thank you for putting J. Dilla's song (from his second and final album,"Donuts") on this list. IMO, J. Dilla is one of the best producers of all-time. RIP J.

[@WatchMojo]

Absolutely!! What’s your favorite track from the album?

[@christophermerlot3366]

#1 Mozart's "Requiem." One of the greatest pieces of music ever composed, Mozart knew that he was writing his own death march.

[@marcoeugenio1021]

Gone but not forgotten. Their legacy lives on forever.

[@playtimeallthetimecbeebies2272]

NO SIGN OF MY FAVORITE SINGER OF ALL TIME?! I mean, I believe he did music before his death in 2016 (same year as Bowie)

[@erinmiller1433]

Who?

[@whipkat45]

Layne Staley should've at least been on the list, if not top 5.

[@BurrShotHam711Jenna]

Queen - The Show Must Go On Freddie was a legend Johnny Cash's version of the Hurt by NIN gives chills and it was Johnny's epitaph

[@Dibby98]

The album midnight organ fight by frightened rabbit has a whole new meaning since Scott's suicide. Specifically, the track "Floating in the forth". He stuck to his word and saved suicide for another year

[@wanderinghuntress8645]

These are the days of our Lives- my favorite song of all time.

[@sweetandsourdish3723]

These musicians foresaw their own deaths through their songs. It makes the songs themselves even more sad. 😢😢😢

[@josh72456]

From the list I know George Harrison, Leonard Cohen, Queen, Johnny Cash and David Bowie.

[@barberjr1742]

How in God's name can you make this list without Chester Bennington? Jeez

[@ziegny76]

I think Nirvana's "All Apologies" would have been a fitting entry.

[@Elfan4]

Where's Bob Marley's "Redemption Song"? ☹️☹️

[@earthdragon3256]

What? You mean he knew he would be murdered?

[@728huey]

​@@earthdragon3256He wasn't murdered. He died from cancer.

[@rbourne35]

Using a song Joey wrote is a good choice. But his cover of What a Wonderful World on that album becomes such a tearjerker.

[@matthewdrummond1340]

11:15 This is my earliest memory of a song release like this

[@fidem15893]

A place for Nightbirde in this chart , please.

[@Catseye189]

Bowie did his last single laying down, Freddie did his last album standing and jumping!

[@rebeccaflowerbeck9894]

some of these songs are so bittersweet - they are beautiful, but they twinge of sadness…especially ‘Hurt’ sung by Johnny Cash 💔😿❤️

[@jackwells8107]

I always enjoyed Glen Campbell and I loved Freddy Mercury, but Warren Zevon, Leonard Cohen, and David Bowie were some of my very favorite artists of all time. Now I need to go back and listen to their final albums again.

[@panjimoulana]

Obviously, "These are the Days of My Life" by Queen it's the deepest meaning (and heart wrenching) for me...

[@jennyfab312]

The top three gutted me I am hurt most by Freddie then David. No pun intended

[@hippomancy]

Johnny Cash after a long tumultuous yet successful career... he had to be convinced to do it... and Bowie... I still wish he had lived and kept producing work. a wide and varied catalogue and still somehow not enough... to the end he was still changing it up, keeping it interesting.

[@perturabo1512]

People always forget Eric Carr, he completed God gave rock and roll to you video just before he died, and it was a struggle, he also died the same day as Freddie, so wasn’t reported or remembered like he should have been.

[@scottbakanumba1heathen313]

INXS: "Elegantly Wasted"

[@BisolaAdebija]

This is so tragic 😢

[@JonnyTainment]

When I saw Freddie Mercury on the thumbnail, I was so expecting "The Show Must Go On."

[@OVERKILL_PINBALL]

Mr. Johnny Cash.. _The Legend_

[@drewbrown2175]

David Berman - Nights That Wont Happen

[@TylerSteadS101]

June Cash was still alive when Johnny released Hurt. She died several months after he did

[@SoullessGinger1313]

The duet version of Hurt sung live by Trent Reznor and David Bowie is my favorite.

[@johnchambliss1487]

Kieth Whitley/ tell Lori I love her. He begged his wife Lori Morgan to not leave him alone because he was afraid of being alone and as an alcoholic he might die. The song is recorded on a tape recorder while he was in the bathtub. … he did die a few days later.

[@mantori]

The album 'You want it darker", to me is the best send off any artist could have had, especially a man if the song writing prowess of Leonard Cohen, a close second Black Star by David Bowie.